Govt fails to stop kite related deaths
Large number of youth, Kite Flying Association has repeatedly demanded for the ban to be lifted
Boys are silhouetted as they fly their kites. PHOTO: REUTERS
LAHORE:
Another person was killed by a kite after its string slashed a motorist’s throat in the city, highlighting the government’s inability to control such incidents.
The deceased was identified as 40-year-old Shoaib Younas. Travelling on his motorcycle, Younas was near Muslim Town Mor when the string slit his throat, causing him to fall down. Police and rescue teams rushed to the scene and shifted Younas to Lahore Services Hospital for treatment where he breathed his last. This is not the first case of death or injury that has occurred in the provincial capital despite the government’s zero-tolerance policy towards kite flying.
In response to these incidents, the provincial chief executive vowed to either suspend or transfer those field officers in whose jurisdiction these incidents occurred. This move prompted police officers to state that enforcement was not the only issue.
Within the last two weeks, the government has suspended an SHO and a DSP, while also demoting a police superintendent to an officer on special duty.
In spite of this, a week later a three-year-old girl Makrukh had her throat slit as she returned home from school in Shera Kot. Her father and brother were also injured in the incident. Such incidents are not confined to Lahore; they have also been reported in several districts across Punjab. The numbers seem to climb higher every year, yet there is no effective policy in place that can prevent these incidents from happening.
On the other end of the spectrum, a large number of youth along with the Kite Flying Association has repeatedly demanded that the ban against kites be lifted, stating that the activity has a historical and cultural significance for the region.
If the ban has not managed to stop the loss of life due to kite flying, it should be lifted, they expressed.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 26th, 2018.
Another person was killed by a kite after its string slashed a motorist’s throat in the city, highlighting the government’s inability to control such incidents.
The deceased was identified as 40-year-old Shoaib Younas. Travelling on his motorcycle, Younas was near Muslim Town Mor when the string slit his throat, causing him to fall down. Police and rescue teams rushed to the scene and shifted Younas to Lahore Services Hospital for treatment where he breathed his last. This is not the first case of death or injury that has occurred in the provincial capital despite the government’s zero-tolerance policy towards kite flying.
In response to these incidents, the provincial chief executive vowed to either suspend or transfer those field officers in whose jurisdiction these incidents occurred. This move prompted police officers to state that enforcement was not the only issue.
Within the last two weeks, the government has suspended an SHO and a DSP, while also demoting a police superintendent to an officer on special duty.
Police arrest eight for kite flying in Rawalpindi
In spite of this, a week later a three-year-old girl Makrukh had her throat slit as she returned home from school in Shera Kot. Her father and brother were also injured in the incident. Such incidents are not confined to Lahore; they have also been reported in several districts across Punjab. The numbers seem to climb higher every year, yet there is no effective policy in place that can prevent these incidents from happening.
On the other end of the spectrum, a large number of youth along with the Kite Flying Association has repeatedly demanded that the ban against kites be lifted, stating that the activity has a historical and cultural significance for the region.
If the ban has not managed to stop the loss of life due to kite flying, it should be lifted, they expressed.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 26th, 2018.